On Race, Nationhood, and Citizenship, A Book Review of Laura E. Gomez's 'Manifest Destinies: The Making of the Mexican American Race'

Abstract:     
This Article is a book review of Laura E. Gomez's 'Manifest Destinies: The Making of the Mexican American Race' (New York University Press 2007). This book review examines the primary tenets of Gomez's rich historical work, which provides insight to contemporary social, political and legal issues: 1) counternarratives to the dominant narratives of European colonization of lands we currently know as Mexico and the western United States; 2) the intersection of race, ethnicity, religion and notions of American citizenship and nationhood; and 3) the socio-legal construction of race, namely the claim that Mexican Americans occupied a fluid racial status in the United States, which Gomez characterizes as 'off-white'.

Number of Pages in PDF File: 16

Keywords: Law, Society, Race, Ethnicity, Mexican Americans, Manifest Destiny,Colonization, Anglo-American, Racial Formation in The United States, Legal History, Law, Society, Critical Race Theory, Racial Identity, Racial Classification

Accepted Paper Series